


Everybody's Fool

by Evx (XinaV)



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Based off a song, For once no hurt or angst, Gen, I appreciate Lukanette's friendship, I still ship Adrienette like my life depends on it, It won't last long I assure you, One Shot, You tell 'em Marinette
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-01
Updated: 2019-02-01
Packaged: 2019-10-20 07:15:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,595
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17617904
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/XinaV/pseuds/Evx
Summary: Sometimes, a song is the best way to tell the words you're trying to speak. And Marinette has some things she would like to say.





	Everybody's Fool

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys! So today (02/01) is my birthday. 
> 
> I really wanted to give you guys a story and so what better time to post it? I hope you all like it. I got the idea one day on the train when the song played on my phone. It was a great moment of idea and excitement all wrapped into one.
> 
> Enjoy.

Marinette never thought that she could relate to a song in English so well. An American rock song at that.

It started off with her just scrolling through who knows what on her phone and finding a video that had the song in the background. She knew of the group since their songs are used in funny videos at times. She wasn’t really thinking much about it until she decided to read the lyrics to it.

Damn did it hit home more than she thought it could.

‘Everybody’s Fool’. Who would have thought an Evanescence song would put the words she couldn’t think of so properly into a song? Her understanding of English is good enough to understand it without the translation but with it, it’s even better.

And of course, being Marinette, she kept thinking about how well the song related to this situation which led her to constantly playing it in class through headphones whenever she got frustrated, trying to follow Adrien’s advice and letting it go, which eventually led to her singing it at lunch under her breath to where a certain musician friend heard her.

And now they’re here.

Marinette hiding behind a curtain, fiddling with her hands as she tries to pretend that there aren’t really that many people out there.

“Why did I get myself into this? Me and my big heart,” she mumbles to Tikki.

Luka heard her while she was singing and, with as much excitement he ever shows, told her how he and some friends were performing at the school’s spring showcase event but their singer bailed on them and they need a singer and a new song. Marinette never thought about singing aloud in front of a crowd but Luka said they really needed a singer and he could tell that song was expressing a feeling of hers so she should share it. After all of that, she just couldn’t tell him no.

Who would she be if she left a friend during their time of need? Not Marinette Dupain-Cheng that’s for sure.

But now, as she’s about to sing in front of a bunch of people that have never heard her sing before in a wide open space, she’s starting to regret that helping spirit of hers.

So many people are here. Not only is her entire class here, but their families are here. Her parents are here. Even Jagged Stone is here because ‘he couldn’t miss his favorite designer showcase’. Worst of all, Adrien is here.

What if she does terrible and Adrien never talks to her again? What if he laughs at her? Oh no, what if he gets mad at her song choice because he told her to let things be? So many things could go wrong.

Tikki gives her a reassuring nudge from within her purse. Her kwami believes in her at least.

“You seem nervous.”

Marinette turns to see Luka ready and waiting with his guitar, calm as always.

“I don’t know if I can do this, Luka. What if I mess up? What if I make you guys look bad? You all practiced really hard and this event means a lot to you guys. I don’t want to ruin it for you,” she says, still playing with her hands nervously.

Luka gives her a comforting smile.

“You’ll do great Marinette. You practiced hard too. Let the music flow through you. You aren’t singing the song, the song is singing through you,” he says.

The mellow aura that always follows him puts her at ease a bit. She won’t be on stage alone and she did practice hard. She knows that she knows the lyrics and she has enough confidence in her English skills to get her through this. She can do this (she hopes).

“Thanks, Luka,” she says gratefully.

Luka nods and heads back over to go finish up the sound check with the others.

In a matter of minutes, they’ll be called to perform and everyone will stop looking at the amazing student artworks, stop picking up finger foods, and stop their conversations all to hear them play. She’ll walk through the curtain and it’ll all start.

“Alright Marinette, this is just another part of the showcase. You showed your fashion design out there already and you’re wearing a design now. This is just one more thing that you’re showing. You can go against akumas so you can definitely do this. This is easy, you can do this,” she says to herself as a pep talk.

All she has to do is remember why she’s doing this. She’s doing this for Luka and his friends and to share the words that she couldn’t say before.

Besides, it’s going to be really satisfying to see Lila’s face.

She hears silence slowly take over the area as people’s conversations began to die out. She looks over to see Luka giving her a thumbs up before he walks through and goes to his position. Their bassist is the one who grabs the center mic to introduce them.

“Thank you all for coming, we hope you have been enjoying everything. Today we’ll be performing you a song and we have a new singer just for the occasion,” she says.

This is it. She’s going to go out there and let the music flow through her just like Luka said. She can do this.

“So stand back, relax, and please enjoy the music.”

The bassist goes to her spot and Marinette knows that it’s her time to go on.

Stomach butterflies and heart beware because she’s not backing out this time.

With as much confidence, majority of it being fake, as she can muster, she walks through that curtain and pretends all eyes aren’t on her as she walks up to center mic.

That doesn’t mean she doesn't catch the shocked looks of her friends, Alya raising her phone to record, Nino silently approving her courage, Jagged looking extremely excited while Penny keeps him quiet, her parents looking at her proudly, Lila’s upset look for her having all of the attention, and Adrien’s attention on her.

So maybe she did a bad job on the whole ‘pretend no one’s watching thing’ but it’s whatever.

Just like in practice, their drummer counts them in. And just like in practice, she takes a deep breath and lets go.

Luka plays first and then everyone else joins in. It always gives her this sense of being taken when she’s this close to live music.

It’s time to speak the words she didn’t say.

_ “Perfect by nature _

_ Icons of self-indulgence _

_ Just what we all need _

_ More lies about a world that” _

 

Her eyes lock on Lila when she says the word lies. Let’s make it clear who’s this song is to.

 

_ “Never was and never will be _

_ Have you no shame don't you see me _

_ You know you've got everybody fooled” _

 

The thought of people staring at her leaves her mind as she takes Luka's advice and lets the song sing through her. It feels like it did the first time they practiced and she actually got to sing the song aloud. It’s energizing. The music just finds a way to steal her.

_ “Look here she comes now _

_ Bow down and stare in wonder _

_ Oh how we love you _

_ No flaws when you're pretending _

_ But now I know she” _

 

The sarcasm almost drips from her singing and she knows it because Lila clenches her jaw. It’s not hard to see that Marinette is calling out her lies and fakeness and doing it publically at that.

But it’s not only Lila she’s hitting with the song.

Marinette really isn’t the type to be petty or to hold a grudge against someone but that doesn’t mean she can let aside hurt feelings that easily. So, she’s mocking her class a bit with her sarcasm, they did leave her so easily because they all believed Lila’s lies. She deserves to direct some of the song to them too.

 

_ “Never was and never will be _

_ You don't know how you've betrayed me _

_ And somehow you've got everybody fooled” _

 

Betrayed. When she first heard the song and that word came up, she didn’t know how she felt about it but it clicked. She felt betrayed. Betrayed at the fact that everyone believed a new girl over her. Betrayed that they thought she was just being petty and jealous when she was trying to save them from her lies. Lila caused that betrayal.

 

_ “Without the mask where will you hide _

_ Can't find yourself lost in your lie” _

 

She wonders if Lila even knows who she really is. Does she ever not lie? Is anything out of her mouth, other than her threats, ever the truth? One day when all of those lies are exposed, hopefully one day soon, what is she going to do? Just move and lie her way to someone’s favor again?

 

_ “I know the truth now _

_ I know who you are _

_ And I don't love you anymore” _

 

Though she’s never loved Lila, finding out she was a liar from the very beginning, she hopes that someone else will be able to relate to those words. She knows Adrien probably can, he once believed in her and even gave her a few chances but she ruined that all by herself. He knows the truth about her, maybe someone else can find out as well.

 

_ “Never was and never will be _

_ You don't know how you've betrayed me _

_ And somehow you have everybody fooled” _

_ It never was and never will be _

_ You’re not real and you can’t save me _

_ Somehow now you’re everybody’s fool” _

 

Lila’s anger is oddly satisfying. She has no doubt that Lila will try even more now to ruin her life but she’s not worried. The fact still stands that the message is out there and anyone who’s willing to listen has heard it. 

The music still playing behind her, slowly but strongly coming to an end, makes the feeling of everything all the more powerful. She’ll never get over how good Luka and his friends are at playing music. She sees why Luka chooses to express things with his guitar sometimes instead of words. It just has a way of getting the message across.

The song finally comes to an end with a strong finish. The thunderous applause snap Marinette out of her music caused daze and that’s when she realizes she was holding the mic tightly and lets go of it. She wonders how much into it she really got. She’ll have to see a video of it later.

With her normal nervous demeanor, she gives a shy smile to the crowd.

“Take a bow,” Luka says from the side of her.

She takes a quick bow and the applause get louder, the crowd loving her sudden adorable shyness that is the epitome of Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

Her heart is beating almost as loud as the crowd’s clapping. It was almost like having an adrenaline rush singing in front of all of these people.

They all leave the stage together and behind the curtain is where Marinette flips out.

“I can’t believe I just did that. Oh my god, I just did that,” she says, pulling her cheeks down dramatically.

Luka, besides her, chuckles and puts his hand on her shoulder.

“You did great Marinette. You really saved our performance today,” he says.

She looks up at him with tinted cheeks and a smile.

“You really think so?” She asks.

“I know so,” he replies.

She pulls him into a tight embrace filled with relief and thankfulness.

“Thanks a bunch, Luka, I couldn’t have done this without you,” she says.

She never would have even sung the song aloud in her room, in fear someone could hear her, let alone sing in front of a crowd. He really pulled her out of her shell this time.

“I’m the one who should be thanking you. Feel free to join us again anytime, we always could use a voice and passion like yours. Now, I know there are some people who would love to speak to you now,” he says.

That’s right, she knows when she goes in the crowd she’ll be bombarded by people. Jagged will probably lift her in a hug, that is if Penny doesn’t stop him from causing a scene first. Her parents will most likely coo and talk about ‘their little girl growing up’ all the way until they get home and afterward. Alya will probably interrogate her to no end while Nino silently supports his girlfriend. She has no doubt Lila will try to turn the positive attention into negative attention but she won’t worry about that. For now, she’ll just have fun dealing with her classmates' reactions.

She nods and lets go of Luka. She gives him one more thanks and goes out, taking one big deep breath.

As suspected, Jagged is the first to reach her and sweeps her up dramatically before Penny could advise otherwise.

“You’re a real rockstar Marinette, you should come join me on tour. We need to get you on stage more often. Penny, can we do that?” Jagged says.

Penny chuckles at Marinette’s red cheeks.

“No, I don’t think we can. She does have school and we can’t take her away from her parents. Maybe when she’s a bit older,” Penny says.

“What a great idea. Watch out world, when Marinette Dupain-Cheng graduates, we’ll have the greatest designer/rockstar on our hands,” Jagged says excitedly, placing Marinette down and holding her by the shoulder.

“Thanks, Jagged, I’ll uh keep that in mind,” Marinette replies.

She doesn’t think though that she’ll be making a career out of singing. She doesn’t know if she can handle that initial nervousness every time.

She excuses herself from the two and head over to where she sees Alya waiting with a big smile and a reporter look.

“Marinette! Why did you not tell me that you were going to perform today?! I thought I was your best friend and as your best friend, I get priority in information,” Alya says, grabbing Marinette by the hands.

Marinette chuckles at her friend’s antics.

“Sorry Alya, I didn’t even think I would actually go on stage. Luka said his group needed a singer and asked me and I agreed. I thought I’d chicken out though once I saw how many people would be looking at me,” she says.

Not only that, how do you exactly tell your best friend that you’re going to sing a song that calls out the liar that everyone believes in class and that it’s also directed towards her classmates? Not a very easy topic to get on to say the least.

“You were amazing up there dude. We should make a song together, it would be wicked,” Nino says, giving two thumbs up.

“Thanks, Nino. I may have to get back to you later, though, about that song. I don’t know if I can do any more public singing for a while, that was terrifying,” she replies.

Alya’s eyes suddenly widen and then a smirk settles on her face. Marinette gives her a confused look. That look on Alya’s face is never good.

“Girl, we have a lot to talk about later but for now I think you have a fan who wants to talk to you,” Alya says.

She points behind Marinette and Marinette turns only to be met by none other than Adrien Agreste.

“A-Adrien!” Marinette stutters in surprise.

“Hi Marinette,” he says with the smile that always melts her heart.

“We’ll leave you two to it. I think I left something back over there. We’ll meet up with you guys later,” Alya says, giving Marinette a wink.

She pulls Nino along with her, leaving a blushing Marinette alone with Adrien.

“You did really great, I didn’t know you could sing so well. Design, bake, and can sing, you’re amazing. Ladybug should watch out, the next thing we may find out is that you're a gold medalist at gymnastics,” Adrien says with a fond smile.

_ ‘Oh my god, Adrien just complimented me! Stay cool Marinette, don’t embarrass yourself!’ _

“Oh no, I could never, I’d probably fall a lot, being so clumsy. I mean THANK YOU, uh thank you for the compliment. I didn’t think I would uh sound good,” she replies.

Okay, not the worst she’s ever messed up in front of him.

Of course, being Adrien, he thinks nothing of her fumbling and continues to have that fond, admiring look in his eyes as he looks at ‘just his friend’.

“I don’t know why you would think that, you were amazing, and in English at that. I’d love to hear you sing again some time. You have a nice voice and it was really brave of you to go in front of so many people and sing. Especially considering the lyrics,” he says.

She squeaks in response. One, Adrien just said he would want to hear her sing again. Two he just called her brave. And three, he actually understood the lyrics! She didn’t think too many people would fully understand the lyrics.

“Oh uh, you understood the song? I mean of course you understood the song,” a groan slips out her mouth and she fumbles with her hands, “I’m sorry Adrien if it bothered you. I know you told me to leave things alone and stuff and then I go do that, you probably think I’m a petty person huh,” she says, looking down a bit guilty.

To her surprise, Adrien puts a hand on her shoulder causing her to look back up at him.

“I don’t think that about you at all. I understand with your sense of justice, ignoring so much isn’t the easiest at times and I know you still have feelings. I actually really enjoyed the song, it was a nice expression of you. I’m just worried that the recipient won’t take it too kindly and may try to lie about you,” he says.

Oh if only he knew the lies she was already spreading about her but he’s really innocent and shouldn’t have to be dragged into that problem. But it’s really nice that he’s worried about her.

“Even if I didn’t do that, she’d still dislike me so it’s fine. I’m just glad that I didn’t uh offend you with it,” she replies.

He gives her a bright smile again, leaning in close to her face. She tries not to back up even though she knows her face is turning red. He’s like Chat Noir, little understanding of personal space but you can’t be mad about it.

“I think it was amazing. You really are special Marinette. And your designs by the way are really good. I sent a picture of your outfits to Nathalie and told her you made it. Don’t tell Alya but I’m your number one fan,” he says, semi-whispering the last part.

A laugh bubbles up from Marinette and she can’t help it when it spills out. Adrien seems proud in making her laugh, smile becoming even bigger.

“I don’t know, she may try to fight you for that title,” Marinette says through her laughter from behind her hand.

He backs up and in an almost Chat kind of way, straightens up and puffs out his chest.

“I think I can hold my ground and win the title,” he says and then winks at her.

HE WINKED! Marinette doesn’t know if her heart can handle this playful side of him.

“I think you should stop watching the Ladyblog, I don’t know if Chat Noir would like you stealing all his moves,” Marinette jokes.

She’s joking with Adrien and didn’t stutter or mess up. Good job Marinette.

Adrien chuckles and falls back into his normal Adrien ways.

“I’m sure he doesn’t mind me borrowing a few. But you are our everyday Ladybug so I guess it’s fitting for your number one fan to be your Chat Noir,” he says.

Marinette almost faints on spot. Did he just compare them to Ladybug and Chat Noir? Is he saying they’re partners, a duo? Her partners with Adrien? Is this day real?? Oh this is just like when they dressed up for Clara Nightingale’s video.

“Guess I can always use a partner in fighting. But once you’re standing with a Dupain-Cheng, be prepared for sweets. My parents are waiting for me and I know papa made some things, would you like to come with me?” she replies, redness in cheeks deepening.

Adrien’s eyes widen like a kid in the candy shop. She said the magic words.

“Can I? Is it okay to have some?” He asks.

Marinette smiles. She knows how much he secretly loves baked goods but doesn’t get a chance to eat them often. Model diet be damned because with her and her family, they're going to feed him like no other.

“Of course you can. I wouldn’t ask if you couldn’t,” she replies.

He lights up and grabs her hand. Marinette knows her brain is going to stop working in a matter of a few more seconds.

“Well then, let’s go,” he says cheerfully.

Trying to school that lovestruck look off of her face, she begins to lead him over to her parents.

She got to show her designs, she helped Luka and his band out, she got to call Lila out secretly, she held a conversation with Adrien without messing up too much, and now he’s holding her hand.

This is the best day ever.

**Author's Note:**

> Btw, I actually like Evanescence music, I didn't just choose the song randomly.
> 
> Come talk to me please either in the comments or on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/EVXinav)
> 
> Stay tuned, I may have something else for you guys coming up soon ;)


End file.
